British Museum. Dept of Egyptian
and Assyrian Antiquities.

The Babylonian story of the
Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamish

LaAsy.
B862ba

BRITISH MUSEUM.

The

abylonian Story of the Deluge

and the

Epic of Gilgamish

'1th an Account of the Royal Libraries of Nineveh

WITH EIGHTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES.

1920.

PRICE ONE SHILLING.

[All Rights Reserved.]

THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE

DELUGE AS TOLD BY ASSYRIAN

TABLETS FROM NINEVEH.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE TABLETS AT NINEVEH BY
LAYARD, RASSAM AND SMITH.

IN 1845-47 and again in 1849-51 Mr. (later Sir) A. H. Layard
carried out a series of excavations among the ruins of the
ancient city of Nineveh, " that great city, wherein are more
" than sixteen thousand persons that cannot discern between
" their right hand and their left ; and also much cattle "
(Jonah iv, n). Its ruins lie on the left or east bank of the
Tigris, exactly opposite the town of Al-Mawsil, or Mosul,
which was founded by the Sassanians and marks .the site of
Western Nineveh. At first Layard thought that these ruins
were not those of Nineveh, which he placed at Nimrud, about
20 miles downstream, but of one of the other cities that were
builded by Asshur (see Gen. x, n, 12). Thanks, however, to
Christian, Roman and Muhammadan tradition, there is no
room for doubt about it, and the site of Nineveh has always
been known. The fortress which the Arabs built there in
the seventh century was known as " Kal'at Ninawi," i.e. ,
" Nineveh Castle," 'for many centuries, and all the Arab
geographers agree in saying that the mounds opposite Mosul
contain the ruins of the palaces and walls of Nineveh. And
few of them fail to mention that close by them is " Tall Nabi
Yunis," i.e., the Hill from which the Prophet Jonah preached
repentance to the inhabitants of Nineveh, that " exceeding
" great city of three days' journey " (Jonah iii, 3). Local
tradition also declares that the prophet was buried in the Hill,
and his supposed tomb is shown there to this day.

THE WALLS AND PALACES OF NINEVEH.

The situation of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh is
well shown by the accompanying reproduction of the plan of

2 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

the city made by Commander Felix Jones, I.N. The remains
of the older palaces built by Sargon II (B.C. 721-705), Senna-
cherib (B.C. 705-681), and Esarhaddon (B.C. 681-668) lie under
the hill called Nabi Yunis, and those of the palaces and other
buildings of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 681-626) under the mound
which is known locally as " Tall al-'Armushiyah," i.e., " The
" Hill of 'Armush," and " Kuyunjik." The latter name is said
to be derived from two Turkish words meaning " many sheep,"
in allusion to the large flocks of sheep that find their pasture
on and about the mound in the early spring. These two great
mounds lie close to the remains of the great west waH of
Nineveh, which in the time of the last Assyrian Empire was
washed by the waters of the river Tigris. At some unknown
period the course of the river changed, and it is now more than
a mile distant from the city wall. The river Khausur, or
Khoser, divides the area of Nineveh into two parts, and pass-
ing close to the southern end of Kuyunjik empties itself into
the Tigris. The ruins of the walls of Nineveh show that the
east wall was 16,000 feet long, the north wall 7,000 feet long,
the west wall 13,600 feet, and the south wall 3,000 feet ; its
circuit was about 13,200 yards or 7^ miles.

DISCOVERY OF THE LIBRARY OF THE TEMPLE OF NEBO
AT NINEVEH.

In the spring of 1852 Layard, assisted by H. Rassam,
continued the excavation of the " South West Palace " at
Kuyunjik. In one part of the building he found two small
chambers, opening into each other, which he called the
" chamber of records," or " the house of the rolls." He gave
them this name because " to the height of a foot or more
from the floor they were entirely filled " with inscribed baked
clay tablets and fragments of tablets. Some tablets were
complete, but by far the larger number of them had been
broken up into many fragments, probably by the falling in of
the roof and upper parts of the walls of the buildings when
the city was pillaged and set on fire by the Medes and Baby-
lonians. The tablets that were kept in these chambers
numbered many thousands. Besides those that were found
in them by Layard, large numbers have been dug out all along

DISCOVERY OF NEBO'S LIBRARY AT NINEVEH. 3

^w&mmm 1

^*^3S?c^ $&! • r^c:?A (>IA ( \ I"

^^^^rc^x^T'-'*'' -\ •-- '? v* i *\A/; "V. Svn -s*-ri£*
l*r<k>^">"*r. ^ //Xv ' '.r>y •.. A. ,/"«H\ , t~;2

Plan of the ruins of the walls, temples and palaces of Nineveh, showing the course of
the River Khausur, and the great protective ditches outside the eastern wall. The southern
mound (Nabi Yunis) contains the ruins of palaces, etc. , built by Sargon II, Sennacherib
and Esarhaddon, and the northern mound (Kuyunjik) the Palaces and Library of
Ashur-bani-pal, the Library of Nebo, etc. From the drawing made by the late Commander
Felix Jones, I.N.

THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

Baked clay cylinder of Sennacherib, King of Assyria, from B.C. 705
to 681, inscribed with an account of eight campaigns of the king,
including the capture and sack of Babylon, the invasion of Palestine,
and the siege of Jerusalem; it is dated in theeponymyof Bel-imurani,
i.e., B.C. 691. B.M. No. 91,032. This cylinder was found among
the ruins of a palace of Sennacherib under the mound of Nabi Yunis,
and was bought by Colonel J. Taylor, Consul-General of Baghdad
in 1830, from whose representatives it was bought by the Trustees
of the British Museum in 1855.

the corridor which
passed the cham-
bers and led to
the river, and a
considerable num-
ber were kicked on
to the river front
by the feet of the
terrified fugitives
from the palace
when it was set on
fire. The tablets
found by Layard
were of different
sizes ; the largest
were rectangular,
flat on one side
and convex on the
other, and mea-
sured about 9 ins.
by 6| ins., and
the smallest were
about an inch
square. The im-
portance of this
"find" was not
sufficiently recog-
nized at the time,
for the tablets,
which were
thought to be de-
corated pottery,
were thrown into
baskets and sent
down the river
loose on rafts to
Basrah, whence
they were des-
patched to Eng-
land on a British

HISTORICAL CYLINDERS FROM NABI YUNIS.

Baked clay six-sided cylinder, inscribed with the Annals of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria rom
B.C. 681-668. B.M. No. 91,028. This cylinder was found in the ruins of the palace of Esarhaddon,
under the mound of Nabi Ytinis, and had been " used as a candlestick by a respectable Turcoman
family living in the village on the mound near the tomb of the prophet [Jonah]." The grease marks
from the candles are still visible on it. It was acquired by Sir Henry Layard and presented by him
to the British Museum in 1848.

6 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

man o* war. During their transport from Nineveh to England
they suffered more damage from want of packing than they
had suffered from the wrath of the Medes. Among the com-
plete tablets that were found in the two chambers several
had colophons inscribed or scratched upon them, and when
these were deciphered by Rawlinson, Hincks and Oppert a
few years later, it became evident that they had formed part
of the library of the TEMPLE OF NEBO AT NINEVEH.

NEBO AND HIS LIBRARY AT NINEVEH.

Nothing is known of the early history of the Library1 of
the Temple of Nebo at Nineveh. There is little doubt that
it was in existence in the reign of Sargon II, and it was prob-
ably founded at the instance of the priests of Nebo who were
settled at Nimrud (the Calah of Gen. x, n), about 20 miles
downstream of Nineveh. Authorities differ in their estimate
of the attributes that were assigned to Nebo (->f- »~I3 Nabu)
in Pre-Babylonian times, and cannot decide whether he was
a water-god, or a fire-god, or a corn-god, but he was undoubtedly
associated with Marduk, either as his son or as a fellow-god.
It is certain that as early as B.C. 2000 he was regarded as one
of the " Great Gods " of Babylonia, and about 1,200 years
later his cult was general in Assyria. He had a temple at
Nimrud in the ninth century B.C., and King Adad-Nirari
(B.C. 811-783) set up six statues in it to the honour of the god ;
two of these statues are now in the British Museum. Under
the last Assyrian Empire he was believed to possess the wisdom
of all the gods, and to be the " All-wise " and " All-knowing."
He was the inventor of all the arts and sciences, and the source
of inspiration in wise and learned men, and he was the divine
scribe and past master of all the mysteries connected with
literature and the art of writing (eCTTTf tlH ilEf ^T. duppu
sharrute). Ashur-bani-pal addresses him as " Nebo, the bene-
" ficent son, the director of the hosts of heaven and of earth,
" holder of the tablet of knowledge, bearer of the writing-reed
" of destiny, lengthener of days, vivifier of the dead, stablisher
" of light for the men who are troubled " (see tablet R.M. 132)

1 A group of Sumerian words for " library " are
(girginakku), and these seem to mean " collection of writings."

PALACE LIBRARY OF ASHUR-BANI-PAL. 7

In the reign of Sargon II the temple library of Nebo was
probably housed in some building at or near Nabi Yunis, or,
as George Smith thought, near Kuyunjik, or at Kuyunjik
itself. As Layard found the remains of Nebo's Library in the
South West Palace, it is probable that Ashur-bani-pal built
a new temple to Nebo there and had the library transferred
to it. Nebo's temple at Nineveh bore the same name as Tiis
very ancient temple at Borsippa (the modern Birs-i-Nimrud),
viz., " E-ZiDA."

DISCOVERY OF THE PALACE LIBRARY OF ASHUR-BANI-PAL.

In the spring of 1852 Layard was obliged to close his
excavations for want of funds, and he returned to England
with Rassam, leaving all the northern half of the great mound
of Kuyunjik unexcavated. He resigned his position as Director
of Excavations to the Trustees of the British Museum, and
Colonel (later Sir) H. C. Rawlinson, Consul-General of Baghdad,
undertook to direct any further excavations that might be
possible to carry out later on. During the summer the Trustees
received a further grant from Parliament for excavations in
Assyria, and they dispatched Rassam to finish the exploration
of Kuyunjik, knowing that the lease of the mound of Kuyunjik
for excavation purposes which he had obtained from its owner
had several years to run. When Rassam arrived at Mosul in
1853, and was collecting his men for work, he discovered that
Rawlinson, who knew nothing about the lease of the niound
which Rassam held, had given the French Consul, M. Place,
permission to excavate the northern half of the mound, i.e.,
that part of it which he was most anxious to excavate for the
British Museum. He protested, but in vain, and, finding that
M. Place intended to hold Rawlinson to his word, devoted
himself to clearing out part of the South West Palace which
Layard had attacked in 1852. Meanwhile M. Place was busily
occupied with the French excavations at Khorsabad, a mound
which contained the ruins of the great palace of Sargon II,
and had no time to open up excavations at Kuyunjik. In
this way a year passed, and as M. Place made no sign that he
was going to excavate at Kuyunjik, and Rassam's time for
returning to England was drawing near, the owner of the

c

1. Astrological report concerning divinations of ihe Moon.

2. Astrological report concerning the Moon and Mercury

3. Prayers of Ashur-bani-pal to Nebo.

SPECIMENS OF TABLETS FROM NINEVEH.

1. Part of a mythological legend concerning early Babylonian rulers

X. Assyrian letter.

3 and 4. Letter and envelope from Ashur-ritsui to an official.

10

SPECIMENS OF TABLETS FROM NINEVEH.

[K.I35Z]

[83. I-I8.3GG]

[83.H&.4-O7]

[83. 1-I8.4-OG]

1. Catalogue of Omen tablets, giving the first line of each.

2. Contract tablet, writien B.C. 675.

3. Contract tablet, with the impression of a seal ; written B.C. 693.

4. Contract tablet, written B.C. 686.

SPECIMEN OF TABLETS FROM NINEVEH.

11

Explanatory List of Words with glosses.

12 SPECIMENS OF TABLETS FROM NINEVEH.

•X % f. |, I if

tit I- HI el*

1. Label, inscribed with the title of a series of astrological forecasts.

2. Label, inscribed with the title of a series of omens.

3. Part of a text containing grammatical paradigms.

PALACE LIBRARY OF ASHUR-BANI-PAL. 13

mound, who was anxious to get the excavations finished so
that he might again graze his flocks on the mound, urged
Rassam to get to work in spite of Rawlinson's agreement with
M. Place. He and Rassam made arrangements to excavate
the northern part of the mound clandestinely and by night,
and on 2Oth December, 1853, the work began. On the first
night nothing of importance was found ; on the second night
the men uncovered a portion of a large bas-relief ; and on the
third night a huge mass of earth collapsed revealing a very
fine bas-relief, sculptured with a scene representing Ashur-bani-
pal standing in his chariot. The news of the discovery was
quickly carried to all parts of ttte neighbourhood, and as it
was impossible to keep the diggings secret any longer, the work
was continued openly and by day. The last-mentioned bas-
relief was one of the series that lined the chamber, which was
50 feet long and 15 feet wide, and illustrated a royal lion hunt.1
This series, that is to say, all of it that the fire which destroyed
the palace had spared, is now in the British Museum (see the
Gallery of the Assyrian Saloon).

Whilst the workmen were clearing out the Chamber of the
Lion Hunt they came across several heaps of inscribed baked
clay tablets of " all shapes and sizes," which resembled in
general appearance the tablets that Layard had found in the
South West Palace the year before. There were no remains
with them, or near them, that suggested they had been arranged
systematically and stored in the Chamber of the Lion Hunt,
and it seems as if they had been brought there from another
place and thrown down hastily, for nearly all of them were
broken into small pieces. As some of them bore traces of
having been exposed to great heat they must have been in that
chamber during the burning of the palace. When the tablets
were brought to England and were examined by Rawlinson,
it was found from the information supplied by the colophons
that they formed a part of the great PRIVATE LIBRARY OF

1 These bas-reliefs show that lions were kept in cages in Nineveh
and let out to be killed by the King with his own hand. There seems to
be an allusion to the caged lions by Nahum (ii. n) who says, " Where
s the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none
made them afraid ? "

14 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

ASHUR-BANI-PAL, which that king kept in his palace. The
tablets found by Layard in 1852 and by Rassam in 1853 form
the unique and magnificent collection of cuneiform tablets in
the British Museum, which is now commonly known as the
" Kuyunjik Collection." The approximate number of the
inscribed baked clay tablets and fragments that have come
from Kuyunjik and are now in the British Museum is 25,073.
It is impossible to over-estimate their importance and value
from religious, historical and literary points of view ; besides
this, they have supplied the material for the decipherment
of cuneiform inscriptions in the Assyrian, Babylonian and
Sumerian languages, and form the foundation of the science of
Assyriology which has been built up with such conspicuous
success during the last 70 years.

ASHUR-BANI-PAL, BOOK-COLLECTOR AND PATRON OF LEARNING.

Ashur-bani-pal (the Asnapper of Ezra iv, 10) succeeded his
father Esarh addon B.C. 668, and at a comparatively early
period of his reign he seems to have devoted himself to the study
of the history of his country, and to the making of a great
Private Library. The tablets that have come down to us prove
not only that he was as great a benefactor of the Library of the
Temple of Nebo as any of his predecessors, but that he was
himself an educated man, a lover of learning, and a patron of
the literary folk of his day. In the introduction to his Annals
as found inscribed on his great ten-sided cylinder in the British
Museum he tells us how he took up his abode in the chambers
of the palace from which Sennacherib and Esarhaddon had
ruled the Assyrian Empire, and in describing his own education
he says :

" I, Ashur-bani-pal, within it (i.e., the palace) understood
" the wisdom of Nebo, all the art of writing of every crafts-
" man, of every kind, I made myself master of them all (i.e.,
" of the various kinds of writing)."1

r ~f4 5: T?

m < -<r< v

(Brit. Mus., No. 91,026, Col. i, 11. 31-33).

ASHUR-BANI-PAL'S CYLINDER.

15

Baked clay ten-sided cylinder inscribed with a description of the most important events
of the reign of Ashur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, B.C. 668-626, and an account of
the building operations which he carried on in Nineveh. B.M. No. 91,026. This
cylinder was discovered in a chamber in one of the main walls of the palace of
Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam in 1878.

16 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

These words suggest that Ashur-bani-pal could not only
read cuneiform texts, but could write like a skilled scribe, and
that he also understood all the details connected with the

C.H

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u a.

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£s
2?

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sis

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<u o

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si

SUMERIAN LITERATURE.

17

craft of making and baking tablets. Having determined to
form a Library in his palace he set to work in a systematic
manner to collect literary works. He sent scribes to ancient
seats of learning, e.g., Ashur, Babylon, Cuthah, Nippur, Akkad,
Erech, to make copies of the ancient works that were preserved
there, and when the copies came to Nineveh he either made
transcripts of them himself, or caused his scribes to do so for
the Palace Library. In any case he collated the texts him-
self and revised them before placing them in his Library. The
appearance of the tablets from his Library suggests that he
established a factory in which the clay was cleaned and kneaded
and made into homogeneous, well-shaped tablets, and a kiln
in which they were baked, after they had been inscribed. The
uniformity of the script upon them is very remarkable, and texts
with mistakes in them are rarely found. How the tablets
were arranged in the Library is not . known, but certainly
groups were catalogued, and some tablets were labelled.1
Groups of tablets were arranged in numbered series, with
" catch lines," the first tablet of the series giving the first
line of the second tablet, the second tablet giving the first line
of the third tablet, and so on.

Ashur-bani-pal was greatly interested in the literature of
the Sumerians, i.e., the

non - Semitic people
who occupied Lower
Babylonia about B.C.
3500 and later. He
and his scribes made
bilingual lists of signs
and words and objects
of all classes and
kinds, all of which are
of priceless value to
the modern student
of the Sumerian and
Assyrian languages.
Annexed is an ex-
tract from a List of

Extract from a List of Signs with Sumerian and
Assyrian -values. From Rawlinson, Cuneiform
Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. II, Plate I
11. 155-168.

1 K. 1352 is a good specimen of a catalogue (see p. 10) ; K. 1400
and K. 1539 are labels (see p. 12).

D 2

18 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

Signs with Sumerian and Assyrian values. The signs of
which the meanings are given are in the middle column ; the
Sumerian values are given in the column to the left, and their
meanings in Assyrian in the column to the right. To many
of his copies of Sumerian hymns, incantations, magical
formulas, etc., Ashur-bani-pal caused interlinear translations
to be added in Assyrian, and of such bilingual documents the
following extract from a text relating to the Seven Evil Spirits
will serve as a specimen. The ist, 3rd, 5th, etc., lines are
written in Sumerian, and the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc., lines in
Assyrian.

Extract from a tablet containing a text relating to the Seven Evil Spirits, written in the
Sumerian language, with an interlinear translation in Assyrian. From Rawlinson,
Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. IV. Plate XV, Obverse, 11. 33-46
(K. Ill— K. 2754).

The tablets that belonged to Ashur-bani-pal's private
Library and those of the Temple of Nebo can be distinguished
by the colophons, when these exist. Two forms of colophon
for each class of the two great collections of tablets are known,
one short and one long. The short colophon on the tablets
of the King's Library reads : — " Palace of Ashur-bani-pal,
" king of hosts, king of the country of Assyria " tffyf £!>- T "-"f-^
^ TC « I « ^ Hf-<^ <&, and that on the tablets of the
Library of Nebo reads : — " [Country of ?] Ashur-bani-pal, king
"of hosts, king of the country of Assyria" V «->f- -<4 ^- I? <X
^ « \A «f ^ <Ig[. See on the Tablet of Astrological Omens,

COLOPHON OF TABLETS.

19

p. 22. The longer colophons are of considerable interest and
renderings of two typical examples are here appended : —

i. COLOPHON OF THE TABLETS OF THE PALACE LIBRARY.

(K. 4870.)

T?

JH V-

MM

xi

If

< ~f

JH

Colophon of a tablet from the Palace Library of Ashur-bani-pal containing
incantations in the Sumerian language, with interlinear translations in Assyrian.
For an English rendering see following page. From Rawlinson, Cuneiform In-
scriptions of Western Asia, Vol. IV, Plate VI, col. 6 (K. 4870).

20 THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

1. Palace of Ashur-bani-pal, king of hosts, king of the

country of Assyria,

2. who trusteth in the god Ashur and the goddess Belit,

3. on whom the god Nebo (Nabu) and the goddess Tasmetu

4. have bestowed all-hearing ears

5. and his possession of eyes that are clearsighted,

6. and the finest results of the art of writing

7. which, among the kings who have gone before,

8. no one ever acquired that craft.

9. The wisdom of Nebo [as expressed in] writing, of

every kind,

10. on tablets I wrote, collated and revised,

11. [and] for examination and reading

12. in my palace I placed — [I]

13. the prince who knoweth the light of the king of the

gods, Ashur.

14. Whosoever shall carry [them] off, or his name side by

side with mine

15. shall write may Ashur and Belit wrathfully

16. sweep away, and his name and his seed destroy in

the land.

2. COLOPHON OF THE TABLETS OF THE LIBRARY OF NEBO.

(Rn. 132.)

1. To Nebo, beneficent son, director of the hosts of

heaven and of earth,

2. holder of the tablet of knowledge, he who hath grasped

the writing reed of destinies,

3. lengthener of days, vivifier of the dead, stablisher of

light for the men who are perplexed,

4. [from] the great lord, the noble Ashur- bani-pal, the

lord, the approved of the gods Ashur, Bel and Nebo,

5. the shepherd, the maintainer of the holy places of the

great gods, stablisher of their revenues,

6. son of Esarhaddon, king of hosts, king of Assyria,

7. grandson of Sennacherib, king of hosts, king of Assyria,

8. for the life of his souls, length of his days, [and] well-

being of his posterity,

9. to make permanent the foundation of his royal throne >

to hear his supplications,

COLOPHONS OF TABLETS. 21

10. to receive his petitions, to deliver into his hands the

rebellious.

11. The wisdom of Ea, the precious priesthood, the

leadership,

12. what is composed for the contentment of the heart

of the great gods,

13. I wrote upon tablets, I collated, I revised

14. literally according to all the tablets of the lands of

Ashur and Akkad,

15. and I placed in the Library of E-Zida, the temple of

Nebo my lord, which is in Nineveh.

16. O Nebo, lord of the hosts of heaven and of earth, look

upon that Library joyfully for years (i.e., for ever).

17. Of Ashur-bani-pal, the chief, the worshipper of thy

divinity, daily the reward of the offering —

18. his life decree, so that he may exalt thy great godhead.

The tablets from both Libraries when unbroken vary in
size from 15 inches by 8| inches to I inch by f-inch, and they
are usually about i inch thick. In shape they are rectangular,
the obverse being flat and the reverse slightly convex. Con-
tract tablets, letter tablets and " case " tablets are very
much smaller, and resemble small pillows in shape. The
principal subjects dealt with in the tablets are history, annalistic
or summaries, letters, despatches, reports, oracles, prayers,
contracts, deeds of sale of land, produce, cattle, slaves, agree-
ments, dowries, bonds for interest (with impressions of seals,
and fingernails, or nail marks), chronography, • chronology,
Canons of Eponyms, astrology (forecasts, omens, divinations,
charms, spells, incantations), mythology, legends, grammar,
law, geography, etc.1

GEORGE SMITH'S DISCOVERY OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH AND
THE STORY OF THE DELUGE.

The mass of tablets which had been discovered by Layard
and Rassam at Nineveh came to the British Museum in

1 For a full description of the general contents of the two great
Libraries of Nineveh, see Bezold, Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets of
the Kouylnjik Collection, Vol. V., London, 1899, p. xviiiff. ; and King,
Supplement, London, 1914, p. xviiiff.

22 TABLET FROM THE TEMPLE OF NEBO WITH COLOPHON.

,

?-

Astrological Omens concerning cities.

TABLET WITH COLOPHON.

23

TABLET FROM THE TEMPLE OF NEBO WITH COLOPHON.

[K.7OOO]

Forecasts which formed the Fourth Tablet of the Series

>-<

24 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

1854-5, and their examination by Rawlinson and Norris
began very soon after. Mr. Bowler, a skilful draughtsman
and copyist of tablets, whom Rawlinson employed in making
transfers of copies of cuneiform texts for publication by litho-
graphy, rejoined a considerable number of fragments of
bilingual lists, syllabaries, etc., which were published in the
second volume of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,
in 1866. In that year the Trustees of the British Museum
employed George Smith to assist Rawlinson in sorting, classify-
ing and rejoining fragments, and a comprehensive examination
of the collection by him began. His personal interest in
Assyriology was centred upon historical texts, especially
those which threw any light on the Bible Narrative. But
in the course of his search for stories of the campaigns of
Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashur-bani-pal, he
discovered among other important documents (i) a series of
portions of tablets which give the adventures of Gilgamish,
an ancient king of Erech • (2) An account of the Deluge,
which is supplied by the Eleventh Tablet of the Legend of
Gilgamish (in more than one version) ; (3) A detailed descrip-
tion of the Creation ; (4) the Legend of the Descent of Ishtar
into Hades in quest of Tammuz. The general meaning of
the texts was quite clear, but there were many gaps in them,
and it was not until December, 1872, that George Smith
published his description of 'the Legend of Gilgamish, and
a translation of the " Chaldean Account of the Deluge." The
interest which his paper evoked was universal, and the pro-
prietors of the " Daily Telegraph " advocated that Smith
•should be at once dispatched to Nineveh to search for the
missing fragments of tablets which would fill up the gaps in
his texts, and generously offered to contribute 1,000 guineas
towards the cost of the excavations. The Trustees accepted
the offer and gave six months' leave of absence to Smith,
Avho left London in January, and arrived in Mosul in March,
7873. In the following May he recovered from Kuyunjik
a fragment that contained " the greater portion of seventeen
" lines of inscription belonging to the first column of the
"' Chaldean account of the Deluge, and fitting into the only
** place where there was a serious blank in the story."1 During

1 Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, London, 1875, p. 97.

THE LEGEND OF THE DELUGE. 25

the excavations which Smith carried out at Kuyunjik in
1873 and 1874 he recovered many fragments of tablets, the
texts of which enabled him to complete his description of
the contents of the Twelve Tablets of the Legend of Gilgamish
which included his translation of the story of the Deluge.
Unfortunately Smith died of hunger and sickness near Aleppo
in 1876, and he was unable to revise his early work, and to
supplement it with the information which he had acquired
during his latest travels in Assyria and Babylonia. Thanks to
the excavations which were carried on at Kuyunjik by the
Trustees of the British Museum after his untimely death,
several hundreds of tablets and fragments have been
recovered, and many of these have been rejoined to the tablets
of the older collection. By ;the careful study and investiga-
tion of the old and new material Assyriologists have, during
the last forty years, been enabled to restore and complete
many passages in the Legends of Gilgamish and the Flood.
It is now clear that the Legend of the Flood had not
originally any connection with the Legend of Gilgamish,
and that it was introduced into it by a late editor or redactor
of the Legend, probably in- order to complete the number of
the Twelve Tablets on which it was written in the time of
Ashur-bani-pal .

THE LEGEND OF THE DELUGE IN BABYLONIA.

In the introduction to his paper on the " Chaldean Account
of the Deluge," which Smith read in December, 1872, and
published in 1873, he stated that the Assyrian text which he had
found on Ashur-bani-pal's tablets was. copied from an archetype
at Erech in Lower Babylonia. This archetype was, he thought,
" either written in, or translated into Semitic Babylonian,
" at a very early period," and although he could not assign
a date to it, he adduced a number of convincing proofs in
support of his opinion. The language in which he assumed
the Legend to have been originally composed was known to
him under the name of " Accadian," or " Akkadian," but is
now called " Sumerian." Recent research has shown that
his view on this point was correct on the whole. But there
is satisfactory proof available to show that versions or re-
censions of the Legend of the Deluge and of the Epic of Gilgamish

E 2

26 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

existed both in Sumerian and Babylonian, as early as B.C. 2000.
The discovery has been made of a fragment of a tablet with
a small portion of the Babylonian version of the Legend of the
Deluge inscribed upon it, and dated in a year which is the
equivalent of the nth year of Ammisaduga, i.e. about B.C. 2000. 1
And in the Museum at Philadelphia2 is preserved half of a tablet
which when whole contained a complete copy of the Sumerian
version of the Legend, and must have been written about
the same date. The fragment of the tablet written in the
reign of Ammisaduga is of special importance because the
colophon shows that the tablet to which it belonged was the
second of a series, and that this series was not that of the
Epic of Gilgamish, and from this we learn that in B.C. 2000 the
Legend of the Deluge did not form the Xlth Tablet of the
Epic of Gilgamish, as it did in the reign of Ashur-bani-pal,
or earlier. The Sumerian version is equally important, though
from another point of view, for the contents and position of
the portion of it that remains on the half of the tablet mentioned
above make it certain that already at this early period there
were several versions of the Legend of the Deluge current
in the Sumerian language. The fact is that the Legend of the
Deluge was then already so old in Mesopotamia that the
scribes added to or abbreviated the text at will, and treated
the incidents recorded in it according to local or popular
taste, tradition and prejudice. There seems to: be no evidence
that proves conclusively that the Sumerian version is older
than the Semitic, or that the latter was translated direct
from the former version. It is probable that both the Sumerians
and the Semites, each in their own way, attempted to com-
memorate an appalling disaster of unparalleled magnitude,
the knowledge of which, through tradition, was common to
both peoples. It is, at all events, clear that the Sumerians
regarded the Deluge as an historic event, which they were,
practically, able to date, for some of their tablets contain
lists of kings who reigned before the Deluge, though it must be
confessed that the lengths assigned to their reigns are incredible.

1 Published by Scheil in Maspero's Recueil, Vol. XX, p. $$ff.

2 The text is published by A. Poebel with transcription, commentary,
etc., in Historical Texts, Philadelphia, 1914, and Historical and Gram-
matical Texts, Philadelphia, 1914.

LAND OF THE DELUGE. 27

It is not too much to assume that the original event
commemorated in the Legend of the Deluge was a serious
and prolonged inundation or flood in Lower Babylonia, which
was accompanied by great loss of life and destruction of property.
The Bjabylonian Aversions state that this inundation or flood
was caused by rain, but passages in some of them suggest
that the effects of the rainstorm were intensified by other
physical happenings connected with the earth, of a most
destructive character. The Hebrews also, as we may see
from the Bible, had alternative views as to the cause of the
Deluge. According to one, rain fell upon the earth for forty
days and forty nights (Gen. vii, 12), and according to the
other the Deluge came because " all the fountains of the
" great deep " were broken up, and " the flood-gates of heaven
were opened " (Gen. vii, n). The latter view suggests that the
rain flood was joined by the waters of the sea. Later tradition,
based partly on Babylonian and partly on Hebrew sources t
asserts in the " Cave of Treasures "l that when Noah had
entered the Ark and the door was shut, " the sluices of heaven
" were opened, and the deeps were rent asunder," and " that
" the Ocean, that great sea that surroundeth the whole world,
" vomited its waters, and the sluices of heaven being opened,
" and the deeps of the earth being rent asunder, the store-
" houses of the winds were opened, and the whirlwinds broke
" loose, and the Ocean roared and poured out its waters in
" floods." The ark was steered over the waters by an angel
who acted as pilot, and when that had Come to Test on the
mountains of Kardo (Armenia) " God commanded the waters
" and they separated from each other. The waters that
'' had been above ascended to their place above the heavens,
" whence they had come ; and the waters that had come up
" from under the earth returned to the lower deep ; and
"the waters that were from the Ocean returned into it"
(Brit. Mus. MS. Orient. No. 25,875, fol. 176, col. I and fol. i8a,
cols, i and 2). Many authorities seeking to find a foundation
of fact for the Legend of the Deluge in Mesopotamia have
assumed that the rain flood was accompanied either by an
earthquake or a tidal wave, or by both. There is no doubt

1 A famous work composed by members of the College of Edesst
in the fifth or sixth century A.D.

28 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

that the cities of Lower Babylonia were nearer the sea in the
Sumerian Period than they are at the present time, and it is
a generally accepted view that the head of the Persian Gulf
lay further to the north at that time. A cyclone coupled
with a tidal wave is a sufficient base for any of the forms of
the Legend now known.

A comparison of" the contents of the various Sumerian
and Babylonian versions of the Deluge that have come down
to us shows us that they are incomplete. And as none of
them tells so connected and full a narrative of the prehistoric
shipbuilder as Berosus, a priest of Bel, the great god of Babylon,
it seems that the Mesopotamian scribes were content to copy
the Legend in an abbreviated form. Berosus, it is true, is
not a very ancient authority, for he was not born until the
reign of Alexander the Great, but he was a learned man and
was well acquainted with the Babylonian language, and with the
ancient literature of his country, and he wrote a history of
Babylonia, some fragments of which have been preserved
to us in the works of Alexander Polyhistor, Eusebius, and others.
The following is a version of the fragment which describes
the flood that took place in the days of Xisuthrus, the tenth
King of the Chaldeans, and is of importance for comparison
with the rendering of the Legend of the Deluge, as found on
the Ninevite tablets, which follows immediately after.

THE LEGEND OF THE DELUGE ACCORDING TO BEROSUS.

" After the death of Ardates, his son Xisuthrus reigned
" eighteen sari. In his time happened a great Deluge ; the
" history of which is thus described. The Deity, Cronus,
" appeared to him in a vision, and warned him that upon the
" I5th day of the month Daesius there would be a flood, by
" which mankind would be destroyed. He therefore enjoined
" him to write a history of the beginning, procedure and
" conclusion, of all things ; and to bury it in the city of the
" Sun at Sippara ; and to build a vessel, and take with him
" into it his friends and relations ; and to convey on board
" everything necessary to sustain life, together with all the
" different animals, both birds and quadrupeds, and trust

LEGEND OF DELUGE ACCORDING TO BEROSUS. 29
i

" himself fearlessly to the deep. Having asked the Deity,
" whither he was to sail ? he was answered, ' To the Gods ' :
" upon which he offered up a prayer for the good of mankind.
" He then obeyed the divine admonition ; and built a vessel
" 5 stadia in length, and 2 in breadth. Into this he put
" everything which he had prepared ; and last of all con-
" veyed into it his wife, his children, and his friends. After
" the flood had been upon the earth, and was in time abated,
" Xisuthrus sent out birds from the vessel ; which, not finding;
" any food nor any place whereupon they might rest their
" feet, returned to him again. After an interval of some
" days, he sent them forth a second time ; and they now re-
" turned with their feet tinged with mud. He made a trial
" a third time with these birds ; but they retunied to him no
" more : from whence he judged that the surface of the earth
" had appeared above the waters. He therefore made an
" opening in the vessel, and upon looking out found that it
" was stranded upon the side of some mountain ; upon which
" he immediately quitted it with his wife, his daughter, and
" the pilot. Xisuthrus then paid his adoration to the earth,
" and, having constructed an altar, offered sacrifices to the
" gods, and, with those who had come out of the vessel with
" him, disappeared. They, who remained within, finding that
" their companions did not return, quitted the vessel with
" many lamentations, and called continually on the name of
" Xisuthrus. Him they saw no more ; but they could dis-
" tinguish his voice in the air, and could hear him admonish
" them to pay due regard to religion ; and likewise informed
" them that it was upon account of his piety that he was
" translated to live with the gods ; that his wife and daughter,
" and the pilot, had obtained the same honour. To this he
" added that they should return to Babylonia ; and, it was
" ordained, search for the writings at Sippara, which they
" were to make known to mankind : moreover that the place,,
''wherein they then were, was the land of Armenia. The
" rest having heard these words, offered sacrifices to the gods ;
"Land taking a circuit journeyed towards Babylonia/' (Cory,
Ancient Fragments, London, 1832, p. 26ff.)

30 THE BABYLONIAN LEGEND OF THE DELUGE

THE BABYLONIAN LEGEND OF THE DELUGE AS TOLD TO THE
HERO GlLGAMISH BY HIS ANCESTOR UTA-NAPISHTIM,
WHO HAD BEEN MADE IMMORTAL BY THE GODS.

The form of the Legend of the Deluge given below is that
which is found on the Eleventh of the Series of Twelve Tablets
in the Library of Nebo at Nineveh, which described the life
. and exploits of Gilgamish («->f- £f [TT^y >f-), an early king of
the city of Erech. As we have seen above, the Legend of the
Deluge has in reality no connection with the Epic of Gilgamish,
but was introduced into it by the editors of the Epic at a
comparatively late period, perhaps even during the reign of
Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 668 — 626). A summary of the contents
of the other Tablets of the Gilgamish Series is given in the
following section of this short monograph. It is therefore only
necessary to state here that Gilgamish, who was horrified and
almost beside himself when his bosom friend and companion
Enkidu (""^HL ^I§f ££)> Eabani) died, meditated deeply
how he could escape death himself. He knew that his ancestor
Uta-Napishtim (f *f ^If^ *-&*) had become immortal,
therefore he determined to set out for the place where Uta-
Napishtim lived so that he might obtain from him the secret
of immortality. Guided by a dream in which he saw the
direction of the place • where Uta-Napishtim lived, Gilgamish
set out for the Mountain of the Sunset, and, after great toil
and many difficulties, came to the shore of a vast sea. Here
he met Ur-Shanabi (f IH $"), the boatman of Uta-Napishtim,
who was persuaded to carry him in his boat over the " waters
"of death" (^ f>*«- ^ 6^5= Hf<),' and at length he landed
on the shore of the country of Uta-Napishtim. The im-
mortal came down to the shore and asked the newcomer the
object of his visit, and Gilgamish told him of the death of his
great friend Enkidu, and of his desire to escape from death
and to find immortality. Uta-Napishtim having made to
Gilgamish some remarks which seem to indicate that in his
opinion death was inevitable,

AS TOLD TO GILGAMISH BY UTA-NAPISHTIM. 31

1. Gilgamish1 said unto Uta-Napishtim, to Uta-Napishtim

the remote :

2. " I am looking at thee, Uta-Napishtim.

3. " Thy person is not altered ; even as am I so art thou.

4. " Verily, nothing about thee is changed ; even as am

I so art thou.

5. " [Moved is my] heart to do battle,

6. " But thou art at leisure and dost lie upon thy back.

7. " How then wast thou able to enter the company of the

gods and see life ? "

Thereupon Uta-Napishtim related to Gilgamish the Story
of the Deluge, and the Eleventh Tablet continues thus : —

8. Uta-Napishtim said unto him, to Gilgamish :

9. " I will reveal unto thee, O Gilgamish, a hidden mystery,

10. " And a secret matter of the gods I will declare unto thee.

11. " Shurippak,2 a city which thou thyself knowest,

12. "On [the bank] of the river Puratti (Euphrates) is

situated,

13. " That city .was old and the gods [dwelling] within it —

14. " Their hearts induced the great gods to make a wind-

storm (fy "^ £^, a-bu-bi),3

15. " Their father Anu (— f ft ^- ^Tfl),

16. " Their counsellor, the warrior Enlil (-Hf *"^L ^III).

17. " Their messenger En-urta (>Hf tr£f HI) [and]

18. " Their prince Ennugi («->f- ^ «j4- HHf-^)-

19. " Nin-igi-azag, Ea, was with them [in council] and

20. " reported their word to the house of reeds.

[FIRST SPEECH OF EA TO UTA-NAPISHTIM WHO is

SLEEPING IN A REED HUT.]

21. " O House of reeds, O House of reeds ! O Wall, O Wall !

1 A transcript of the cuneiform text by George Smith, who was the
first to translate it, will be found in Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions
of Western Asia, Vol. IV., plates 43 and 44 ; and a transcript, with trans-
literation and translation by the late Prof. L. W. King, is given in his
First Steps in Assyrian, London, 1898, p. i6iff.

z The site of this very ancient city is marked by the mounds of Fa rah ,
near the Shaft al-Kar, which is probably the old bed of the river
Euphrates ; many antiquities belonging to the earliest period of the
rule of the Sumerians have been found there.

8 Like the habiib of modern times, a sort of cyclone.

THE LEGEND AS TOLD BY UTA-NAPISHTIM. 33

22. " O House of reeds, hear ! O Wall, understand !

23. " O man of Shurippak, son of Ubara-Tutu

(i -T -sir -6go,

24. " Throw down the house, build a ship,

25. " Forsake wealth, seek after life,

26. " Abandon possessions, save thy life,

27. " Carry grain of every kind into the ship.

28. " The ship which thou shalt build,

29. " The. dimensions thereof shall be measured,

30. " The breadth and the length thereof shall be the same.

31. "... the ocean, provide it with a roof."

[UTA-NAPISHTIM'S ANSWER TO EA.]

32. "I understood and I said unto Ea, my lord :

33. " [I comprehend] my lord, that which thou hast ordered,

34. "I will regard it with great reverence, and will perform

it.

35. " But what shall I say to the town, to the multitude,

and to the elders ? "

[SECOND SPEECH OF EA.]

36. " Ea opened his mouth and spake

37. " And said 'unto his servant, myself,

38. ". . . Thus shalt thou say unto them :

39. " Ill-will hath the god Enlil formed against me,

40. " Therefore I can no longer dwell in your city,

41. " And never more will I turn my countenance upon the

soil of Enlil.

42. "I will descend into the ocean to dwell with my lord Ea.

43. " But upon you he will rain riches :

44. " A catch of birds, a catch of fish
.45. " . . . an [abundant] harvest,

46. "... the prince (?) of the darkness

47. ". . . shall make a violent cyclone [to fall upon you].

[THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP.]

48. " As soon as [the dawn] broke . . V

[Lines 49-54 broken away.]

55. " The weak [man] . . . brought bitumen,

56. " The strong [man] . . . brought what was needed.

34 THE BABYLONIAN LEGEND OF THE DELUGE

57. " On the fifth day I decided upon its plan.

58. " According to the plan its walls were 10 Gar (i.e. 120

cubits) high,

59. " And the circuit of the roof thereof was equally 10 Gar.

60. "I measured out the hull thereof and marked it out (?)

61. "I covered (?) it six times.

62. " Its exterior I divided into seven,

63. " Its interior I divided into nine,

64. " Water bolts I drove into the middle of it.

65. " I provided a steering pole, and fixed what was needful

for it,

66. " Six sar of bitumen I poured over the inside wall,

67. " Three sar of pitch I poured into the inside.

68. " The men who bear loads brought three sar of oil,

69. " Besides a sar of oil which the offering consumed,

70. " And two sar of oil which the boatman hid.

71. "I slaughtered oxen for the [workpeople,

72. "I slew sheep every day.

73. " Beer, sesame wine, oil and wine

74. "I made the people drink as if they were water from

the river.

75. "I celebrated a feast-day as if it had been New Year's

Day.

76. " I opened [a box of ointment], I laid my hands in

tinguent.

77. " Before the sunset the ship was finished.

78. "[Since] . . . was difficult.

79. "The shipbuilders brought the . ^ '.-'-of the ship,

above and below,

80. " . two-thirds of it.

[THE LOADING OF THE SHIP.]

81. " With everything that I possessed I loaded it (i.e. the

ship).

82. " With everything that I possessed of silver I loaded it.

83. " With everything that I possessed of gold I loaded it.

84. " With all that I possessed of living grain I loaded it.

85. "I made to go up into the ship all my family and

kinsfolk,

AS TOLD TO GILGAMISH BY UTA-NAPISHTIM. 35

.86. "The cattle of the field, the beasts of the field, all
handicraftsmen I made them go up into it.

87. "The god Shamash had appointed me a time (saying)

88. " The Power of Darkness will at eventide make a rain-

flood to fall ;

89. " Then enter into the ship and shut thy door.

90. " The appointed time drew nigh ;

91. " The Power of Darkness made a rain-flood to fall at

eventide.

92. " I watched the coming of the [approaching] storm,

93. " When I saw it terror possessed me,

94. " I went into the ship and shut my door.

95. " To the pilot of the ship, Puzur-Bel (or Puzur-Amurri

*v *-*=TT JJjf «f ^ £B the sailor

96. " I committed the great house (i.e. ship), together with

the contents thereof.

[THE ABUBU (CYCLONE) AND ITS EFFECTS DESCRIBED.]

97. " As soon as the gleam of dawn shone in the sky

98. "A black cloud from the foundation of heaven came up.

99. " Inside it the god Adad (Rammanu) thundered,

100. " The gods Nabu and Sharru (i.e. Marduk) went before,

101. " Marching as messengers over high land and plain,

102. " Irragal (Nergal) tore out the post of the ship,

103. " En-urta (Ninib) went on, he made the storm to

descend.

104. " The Anunnaki1 brandished their torches,

105. " With their glare they lighted up the land.

106. " The whirlwind (or, cyclone) of Adad swept up to

heaven.

107. " Every gleam of light was turned into darkness.

108. " the land as if had laid

it waste.

109. " A whole day long [the flood descended] . . .
no. " Swiftly it mounted up [the water] reached to

the mountains

in. " [The water] attacked the people like a battle.
112. " Brother saw not brother.

1 The star-gods of the southern sky.

113. " Men could not be known (or, recognized) in heaven.

114. " The gods were terrified at the cyclone.

115. " They betook themselves to flight and went up into

the heaven of Anu.

116. " The gods crouched like a dog and cowered by the wall.

117. " The goddess Ishtar cried out like a woman in travail.

118. " The Lady of the Gods lamented with a loud voice

[saying] :

[ISHTAR' s LAMENT.]

119. " Verily the former dispensation is turned into mud,
12-0. " Because I commanded evil among the company of the

gods.

121. " When I commanded evil among the company of the

gods,

122. " I commanded battle for the destruction of my

people.

123. " Did I of myself bring forth my people

124. " That they might fill the sea like little fishes ? "

[UTA-NAPISHTIM'S STORY CONTINUED.]

125. " The gods of the Anunnaki wailed with her.

126. " The gods bowed themselves, and sat down, and wept.

127. " Their lips were shut tight (in distress) . . .

128. " For six days and nights

129. " The storm raged, and the cyclone overwhelmed the

land.

[THE ABATING OF THE STORM.]

130. " When the seventh day approached the cyclone and

the raging flood ceased :

131. " — now it had fought like an army.

132. " The sea became quiet and went down, and the cyclone

and the rain-storm ceased.

133. " I looked over the sea and a calm had come,

134. " And all mankind were turned into mud,.

135. " The land had been laid flat like a terrace.

136. " I opened the air-hole and the light fell upon my face,

137. " I bowed myself, I sat down, I cried,

138. " My tears poured down over my cheeks.

AS TOLD TO GILGAMISH BY UTA-NAPISHTIM. 37

139. " I looked over the quarters of the world — open sea !

140. " After twelve days an island appeared.

141. " The ship took its course to the land of Nisir

(V^ sn *MTT<)

142. " The mountain of Nisir held the ship, it let it not move.

143. " The first day, the second day, the mountain of Nisir

held the ship and let it not move.

144. " The third day, the fourth day, the mountain of Nisir

held the ship and let it not move.

145. " The fifth day, the sixth day, the mountain of Nisir

held the ship and let it not move.

146. " When the seventh day had come

147. " I brought out a dove and let her go free.

148. " The dove flew away and [then] came back ;

149. " Because she had no place to alight on she came back.

150. " I brought out a- swallow and let her go free.

151. " The swallow flew away and [then] came back ;

152. " Because she had no place to alight on she came back.

153. " I brought out a raven and let her go free.

154. " The raven flew away, she saw the sinking waters.

155. " She ate, she pecked in the ground, she croaked, she

came not back.

[UTA-NAPISHTIM LEAVES THE SHIP.]

156. " Then I brought out everything to the four winds and

offered up a sacrifice ;

157. "I poured out a libation on the peak of the mountain.

158. " Seven by seven I set out the vessels,

159. " Under them I piled reeds, cedarwood and myrtle (?).

160. " The gods smelt the savour,

161. " The gods smelt the sweet savour.

162. " The gods gathered together like flies over him that

sacrificed.

[SPEECH OF ISHTAR, LADY OF THE GODS.]

163. " Now when the Lady of the Gods came nigh,

164. " She lifted up the priceless jewels which Anu had

made according to her desire, [saying]

165. " O ye gods here present, as I shall never forget the

lapis-lazuli jewels of my neck

38

THE ELEVENTH TABLET OF THE GILGAMISH SERIES
(lines 165-214).

Portion of another copy of the Story of the Deluge, from a tablet which probably belonged
to the Palace Library of Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh. Photograph one-seventh larger than the
original. K. 3375.

THE LEGEND AS TOLD BY UTA-NAPISHTIM. 39

1 66. " So shall I ever think about these days, and shall

forget them nevermore !

167. " Let the gods come to the offering,

168. " But let not Enlil come to the offering,

169. " Because he would not accept counsel and made the

cyclone,

170. " And delivered my people over to destruction."

[THE ANGER OF ENLIL (BEL).]

171. " Now when Enlil came nigh

172. " He saw the ship ; then was Enlil wroth

173. " And he was filled with anger against the gods, the

Igigi [saying] : l

174. " What kind of a being hath escaped with his life ?

175. " He shall not remain alive, a man ainong the

destruction ! "

[SPEECH OF EN-URTA.]

176. " Then En-Urta opened his mouth and spake

177. " And said unto the warrior Enlil (Bel) :

178. " Who besides the god Ea can make a plan ?

179. " The god Ea knoweth everything.

1 80. "He opened his mouth and spake

181. " And said unto the warrior Enlil (Bel),

182. " O Prince among the gods, thou warrior,

183. " How couldst thou, not accepting counsel, make a

cyclone ?

184. " He who is sinful, on him lay his sin,

185. " He who transgresseth, on him lay his transgression.

186. " But be merciful that [everything] be not destroyed ;

be long-suffering that [man.be not blotted out]. -

187. " Instead of thy making a cyclone,

188. " Would that a lion had come and diminished

mankind.

189. " Instead of thy making a cyclone

190. " Would that a wolf had come and diminished

mankind.

191. " Instead of thy making a cyclone

1 The star-gods of the northern heaven.

40 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

192. " Would that a famine had arisen and [laid waste]

the land.

193. " Instead of thy making a cyclone

194. "Would that Urra (->f -£±y ^cff, the Plague god)

had risen up and [laid waste] the land.

195. " As for me I have not revealed the secret of the great

gods.

196. " I made Atea-hasis (e£f ^ff ?J< Kw$) to see a

vision, and thus he heard the secret of the gods.

197. " Now therefore counsel him with counsel."

[EA DEIFIES UTA-NAPISHTIM AND HIS WIFE.]

198. " Then the god Ea went up into the ship,

199. " He seized me by the hand and brought me forth.

200. " He brought forth my wife and made her to kneel

by my side.

201. " He turned our faces towards each other, he stood

between us, he blessed us [saying],

202. " Formerly Uta-Napishtim was a man merely,

203. " But now let Uta-Napishtim and his wife be like

unto the gods, ourselves.

204. " Uta-Napishtim shall dwell afar off, at the mouth of

the rivers."

[UTA-NAPISHTIM ENDS HIS STORY OF THE DELUGE.]

205. " And they took me away to a place afar off, and made

me to dwell at the mouth of the rivers."

The contents of the remainder of the text on the Eleventh
Tablet of the Gilgamish Series are described on p. 54.

THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

The narrative of the life, exploits and travels of Gilgamish,
king of Erech, filled Twelve Tablets which formed the Series
called from the first three words of the First Tablet, SHA
NAGBU IMURU, i.e., " He who hath seen all things." The
exact period of the reign of this king is unknown, but there is

1 The nameof Gilgamish was formerly read " Izdubar,"" Gizdubar,"
or " Gishdubar." He is probably referred to as TiXyapos in Aelian,
De Natura Animaliwm, XII, 21 (ed. Didot, Paris, 1858, p. 210).

FIRST TABLET. 41

no doubt that he lived and ruled at Erech before the conquest
of Mesopotamia by the Semites. According to a tablet from
Niffar he was the fifth of a line of Sumerian rulers at Erech,
and he reigned 126 years ; his name is said to mean " The
Fire-god is a commander."1 The principal authorities
for the Epic are the numerous fragments of the tablets that
were found in the ruins of the Library of Nebo and the Royal
Library of Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh, and are now in the British
Museum.3 The contents of the Twelve Tablets may be briefly
described thus :

FIRST TABLET.

The opening lines describe the great knowledge and wisdom
of Gilgamish, who saw everything, learned everything, under-
stood everything, who probed to the bottom the hidden
mysteries of wisdom, and who knew the history of everything
that happened before the Deluge. He travelled far over sea
and land, and performed mighty deeds, and then he cut upon
a tablet of stone an account of all that he had done and
suffered. He built the wall of Erech, founded the holy temple
of E-Anna, and carried out other great architectural works.
He was a semi-divine being, for his body was formed of the
" flesh of the gods " £^-< >->f- f«-«-, and " Two-thirds of
him were god, and one-third was man " £JTT £±111 Ml ^4" £T

<ww &* ^rrr nn- m *T a- 51). The description of his

person is lost. As Shepherd (i.e., King) of Erech he forced
the people to toil overmuch, and his demands reduced them
to such a state of misery that they cried out to the gods and
begged them to create some king who should control Gilgamish
and give them deliverance from him. The gods hearkened to
the prayer of the men of Erech, and they commanded the
goddess Arum to create a rival to Gilgamish. The goddess
agreed to do their bidding, and having planned in her mind
what manner of being she intended to make, she washed her
hands, took a piece of clay and spat upon it, and made a
male creature like the god Anu. His body was covered all

Langdon, Epic of Gilgamish, pp. 207, 208.

2 The greater number of these have been collected, grouped and
published by Haupt, Das Babylonische Nimrodepos, Leipzig, 1884 and
1891 ; and see his work on the Twelfth Tablet in Eeitvoge zur Assyrio-
logie, Vol. I, p.

. i/
, ^|L

jt^

'_>

| It^

42 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

over with hair. The hair of his head was long like that of
a woman, and he wore clothing like that of Gira (or, Sumug-
gan), a goddess of vegetation, i.e., he appeared to be clothed
with leaves. He was different in every way from the people
of the country, and his name was Enkidu (Eabahi). He
lived in the forests on the hills, ate herbs like the gazelle,
drank with the wild cattle, and herded with the beasts of the
field. He was mighty in stature, invincible in strength, and
obtained complete mastery over all the creatures of the forests
in which he lived.

One day a certain hunter went out to snare game, and he
dug pit -traps and laid nets, and made his usual preparations
for roping in his prey. But after doing this for three days he
found that his pits were rilled up and his nets smashed, and
he saw Enkidu releasing the beasts that had been snared.
The hunter was terrified at the sight of Enkidu, and went home
hastily and told his father what he had seen and how badly
he had fared. By his father's advice he went to Erech, and
reported to Gilgamish what had happened. When Gilgamish
heard his story he advised him to act upon a suggestion which
the hunter's father had already made, namely that he should
hire a harlot and take her out to the forest, so that Enkidu
might be ensnared by the sight of her beauty, and take up
his abode with her. The hunter accepted this advice, and
having found a harlot to help him in removing Enkidu from
the forests (thus enabling him to gain a living), he set out from
Erech with her and in due course arrived at the forest where
Enkidu lived, and sat down by the place where the beasts
came to drink.

On the second day when the beasts came to drink and
Enkidu was with them, the woman carried out the instructions
which the hunter had given her, and when Enkidu saw her
cast aside her veil, he left his beasts and came to her, and
remained with her for six days and seven nights. At the end
of this period he returned to the beasts with which he had
lived on friendly terms, but as soon as the gazelle winded him
they took to flight, and the wild cattle disappeared into the
woods. When Enkidu saw the beasts forsake him his knees
gave way, and he swooned from sheer shame ; but when he
came to himself he returned to the harlot. She spoke to him

SECOND TABLET. 43

flattering words, and asked him why he wandered with the
wild beasts in the desert, and then told him she wished to take
him back with her to Erech, where Anu and Ishtar lived, and
where the mighty Gilgamish reigned. Enkidu hearkened and
finally went back with her to her city, where she described the
wisdom, power and might of Gilgamish, and took steps to make
Enkidu known to him. But before Enkidu arrived, Gilgamish
had been warned of his existence and coming in two dreams
which he related to his mother Ninsunna (->f- ^*-^| <£^f *^!)>
and when he and Enkidu learned to know each other subse-
quently, these two mighty heroes became great friends.

SECOND TABLET.

When Enkidu came to Erech the habits of the people of
the city were strange to him, but under the tuition of the
harlot he learned to eat bread and to drink beer, and to wear
clothes, and he anointed his body with unguents. He went
out into the forests with his hunting implements and snared
the gazelle and slew the panther, and obtained animals for
sacrifice, and gained reputation as a mighty hunter and as
a good shepherd. In due course he attracted the notice of
Gilgamish, who did not, however, like his uncouth appearance
and ways, but after a time, when the citizens of Erech praised
him and admired his strong and vigorous stature, he made
friends with him and rejoiced in him, and planned an expedi-
tion with him. Before they set out, Gilgamish wished to pay
a visit to the goddess Ishkhara (->f- J^ff ^f< s£ff), but Enkidu,
fearing that the influence of the goddess would have a bad effect
upon his friend, urged him to abandon the visit. This Gilgamish
refused to do, and when Enkidu declared that by force he would
prevent him going to the goddess, a violent quarrel broke
out between the two heroes, and they appealed to arms. After
a fierce fight Enkidu conquered Gilgamish, who apparently
abandoned his visit to the goddess. The text of the Second
Tablet is very much mutilated, and the authorities on the
subject are not agreed as to the exact placing of the fragments.
The above details are derived from a tablet at Philadelphia.1

1 See Langdon, The Epic of Gilgamish, Philadelphia, 1917.

44 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

THE THIRD TABLET.

The correct order of the fragments of this Tablet has not
yet been ascertained, but among the contents of the first part
of its text a lament by Enkidu that he was associated with
the harlot seems to have had a place. Whether he had left
the city of Erech and gone back to his native forest is not
clear, but the god Shamash, having heard his cursing of the
harlot, cried to him from heaven, saying, " Why, O Enkidu,
" dost thou curse the temple woman ? She gave thee food to
" eat which was meet only for a god, she gave thee wine to
" drink which was meet only for a king, she arrayed thee in
" splendid apparel, and made thee to possess as thy friend
" the noble Gilgamish. And at present Gilgamish is thy
" bosom friend. He maketh thee to lie down on a large couch,
" and to sleep in a good, well-decked bed, and to occupy the
" chair of peace, the chair on the left-hand side. The princes
" of the earth kiss thy feet. He maketh the people of Erech
" to sigh for thee, and many folk to cry out for thee, and to
" serve thee. And for thy sake he putteth on coarse attire
" and arrayeth himself in the skin of the lion, and pursueth
" thee over the plain." When Enkidu heard these words his
anxious heart had peace.

To the Third Tablet probably belongs the fragment in
which Enkidu relates to Gilgamish a horrifying dream which
he had had. In his dream it s.eemed to him that there were
thunderings in heaven and quaking upon earth, and a being
with an awful visage, and nails like an eagle's talons, gripped
him and carried him off and forced him to go down into the
dark abyss of the dread goddess, Irkalla. From this abode
he who once " went in never came out, and he who travelled
" along that road never returned. He who dwelleth there is
" without light, the beings therein eat dust and feed upon
" mud ; they are clad in feathers and have wings like birds,
" they see no light, and they live in the darkness of night."
Here Enkidu saw in his dream creatures who had been kings
when they lived upon the earth, and shadowy beings offering
roasted meat to Ami and Enlil, and cool drinks poured out
from waterskins. In this House of Dust dwelt high priests,

THE FOURTH AND FIFTH TABLETS. 45

ministrants, the magician and the prophet, and the deities
Etana, Sumukan, Eresh-kigal, Queen of the Earth, and Belit-
seri, who registered the deeds done upon the earth.

When Gilgamish heard this dream, he brought out a table,
and setting on it honey and butter placed it before Shamash.

THE FOURTH TABLET.

Gilgamish then turned to Enkidu and invited him to go
with him to the temple of Nin-Makh to see the servant of his
mother, Ninsunna, in order to consult her as to the meaning of
the dream. They went there, and Enkidu told his dream,
and the wise woman offered up incense and asked Shamash
why he had given to her son a heart which could never keep
still. She next referred to the perilous expedition against the
mighty King Khumbaba, which he had decided to undertake
with Enkidu, and apparently hoped that the god would pre-
vent her son from leaving Erech. But Gilgamish was deter-
mined to march against Khumbaba, and he and Enkidu set
out without delay for the mountains where grew the cedars.

THE FIFTH TABLET.

In due course the two heroes reached the forest of cedars,
and they contemplated with awe their great height and their
dense foliage. The cedars were under the special protection
of Bel, who had appointed to be their keeper Khumbaba, a
being whose voice was like the roar of a storm, whose mouth
was like that of the gods, and whose breath was like a gale
of wind. When Enkidu saw how dense was the forest and
how threatening, he tried to make Gilgamish .turn back, but
all his entreaties were in vain. As they were going through
the forest to attack Khumbaba, Enkidu dreamed two or three
dreams, and when he related them to Gilgamish, this hero
interpreted them as auguries of their success and the slaughter
of Khumbaba. The fragmentary character of the text here
makes it very difficult to find out exactly what steps the two
heroes took to overcome Khumbaba, but there is no doubt
that they did overcome him, and that they returned to Erech
in triumph.

46 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

THE SIXTH TABLET

On his return to Erech, Gilgamish

1. Washed his armour, cleaned his weapons,

2. Dressed his hair and let it fall down on his back.

3. He cast off his dirty garments and put on clean ones.

4. He arrayed himself in the [royal head-cloth], he bound

on the fillet,

5. He put on his crown, he bound on the fillet.

6. Then the eyes of the Majesty of the goddess Ishtar

lighted on the goodliness of Gilgamish [and she
said],

7. "Go to, Gilgamish, thou shalt be my lover.

8. '" Give me thy [lovej-fruit, give to me, I say.

9. " Thou shalt be my man, I will be thy woman.

10. "I will make to be harnessed for thee a chariot of

lapis-lazuli and gold.

11. " The wheels thereof shall be of gold and the horns of

precious stones.

12. " Thou shalt harness daily to it mighty horses.

13. " Come into our house with the perfume of the cedar

upon thee.

14. " When thou enterest into our house

15. " Those who sit upon thrones shall kiss thy feet.

16. " Kings, lords and nobles shall bow their backs before

thee.

17. " The gifts of mountain and land they shall bring as

tribute to thee.

18. " Thy . . . and thy sheep shall bring forth twins. .

19. " Baggage animals shall come laden with tribute.

20. " The [horse] in thy chariot shall prance proudly,

21. " There shall be none like unto the beast that is under

thy yoke."

In answer to Ishtar's invitation Gilgamish makes a long
speech, in which he reviews the calamities and misfortunes
of those who have been unfortunate enough to become the
lovers of the goddess. Her love is like a door that lets in
wind and storm, a fortress that destroys the warriors inside
it, an elephant that smashes his howdah, etc. He says. " What
" lover didst thou love for long ? Which of thy shepherds

THE SIXTH TABLET.

47

" flourished ? Come now,

"goeth with

"thee]." He re-
fers to Tammuz,

the lover of her

youth, for whom

year by year she

arranges wailing

commemorations.

Every creature

that falls under

her sway suffers

mutilation or

death, the bird's

wings are broken,

the lion is de-
stroyed, the horse

is driven to death

with whip and

spur ; and his

speech concludes

with the words:

" Dost thou love

"me,andwouldst

"thou treat me

"as thou didst

" them ? "

When Ishtar
heard these words
she was filled
with rage, and
she went up to
heaven and com-
plained to Anu,
her father, and
Antu,hermother,
that Gilgamish
had cursed her
and revealed all
her iniquitous
deeds and actions.

I will describe the calamity [that

t€df<ttf JEW tfteft tfr* iM

Extract from the text of the Sixth Tablet of the Gilgamish
Series (lines 50-70), containing a part of the speech which
Gilgamish addressed to Ishtar in answer to her overtures to
him. He reviles the goddess and reminds her of the death
of Tammuz, and the sufferings of all the creatures that have
been unfortunate enough to enter her service. From
Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. IV,

Plate 41, col. 2. (K. 2589.)

48 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

She followed up her complaint with the request that Anu
should create a mighty bull of heaven to destroy Gilgamish,
and she threatened her father that if he did not grant her
request she would do works of destruction, presumably in the
world. Anu created the fire-breathing (?) bull of heaven and
sent him to the city of Erech, where he destroyed large numbers
of the people. At length Enkidu and Gilgamish determined to
go forth and slay the bull. When they came to the place
where, he was, Enkidu seized him by the tail, and Gilgamish
delivered deadly blows between his neck and his horns, and
together they killed him. As soon as Ishtar heard of the
death of the bull she rushed out on the battlements of the
walls of Erech and cursed Gilgamish for destroying her bull.
When Enkidu heard what Ishtar said, he went and tore off a
portion of the bull's flesh from his right side, and threw it at the
goddess, saying, " Could I but fight with thee I would serve thee
" as I have served him ! I would twine his entrails about thee."
Then Ishtar gathered together all her temple women and harlots,
and with them made lamentation over the portion of the bull
which Enkidu had thrown at her.

And Gilgamish called together the artisans of Erech who
came and marvelled at the size of the bull's horns, for their
bulk was equal to 30 minas of lapis-lazuli, and their thickness
to the length of two fingers, and they could contain six Kur
measures of oil. Then Gilgamish took them to the temple
of the god Lugalbanda and hung them up there on the throne
of his majesty, and having made his offering he and Enkidu
went to the Euphrates and washed their hands, and walked
back to the market-place of Erech. As they went through the
streets of the city the people thronged about them to get a
sight of their faces. When Gilgamisrh asked :

" Who is splendid among men ?
" Who is glorious among heroes ? "

these questions were answered by the women of the palace
who cried :

" Gilgamish is splendid among men.

" Gilgamish is glorious among heroes."

When Gilgamish entered his" palace he ordered a great
festival to be kept, and his guests were provided by him with

THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH TABLETS. 49

beds to sleep on. On the night of the festival Enkidu had a
dream, and he rose up and related it to Gilgamish.

THE SEVENTH TABLET.

About the contents of the Seventh Tablet there is consider-
able doubt, and the authorities differ in their opinions about
them. A large number of lines of text are wanting at the
beginning of the Tablet, but it is very probable that they
contained a description of Enkidu's dream. This may have
been followed by an interpretation of the dream, either by
Gilgamish or some one else, but whether this be so or not,
it seems tolerably certain that the dream portended disaster
for Enkidu. A fragment, which seems to belong to this Tablet
beyond doubt, describes the sickness and death of Enkidu.
The cause of his sickness is unknown, and the fragment merely
states that he took to his bed and lay there for ten days, when
his illness took a turn for the worse, and on the twelfth day
lie died. He may have died of wounds received in some fight,
but it is more probable that, he succumbed to an attack of
Mesopotamian fever. When Gilgamish was told that his
brave friend and companion in many fights was dead, he could
not believe it, and he thought that he must be asleep, but when
he found that death had really carried off Enkidu, he broke
out into the lament which formed the beginning of the text
of the next Tablet.

THE EIGHT.H TABLET.

In this lament he calls Enkidu his brave friend and the
" panther of the desert," and refers to their hunts in the
mountains, and to their slaughter of the bull of heaven, and
to the overthrow of Khumbaba in the forest of cedar, and then
he asks him :

' What kind of sleep is this which hath laid hold upon
" thee ?

' Thou starest out blankly (?) and hearest me not ! "

But Enkidu moved not, and when Gilgamish touched his
breast his heart was still. Then laying a covering over him

50 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

as carefully as if he had been his bride, he turned away from
the dead body and in his grief roared like a raging lion and
like a lioness robbed of her whelps.

THE NINTH TABLET.

In bitter grief Gilgamish wandered about the country
uttering lamentations for his beloved companion, Enkidu.
As he went about he thought to himself,

" I myself shall die, and shall not I then be as Enkidu ?
" Sorrow hath entered into my soul,

" Because of the fear of death which hath got hold of me
do I wander over the country."

His fervent desire was to escape from death, and remem-
bering that his ancestor Uta-Napishtim, the son of Ubara-
Tutu, had become deified and immortal, Gilgamish deter-
mined to set out for the place where he lived in order to obtain
from him the secret of immortality. Where Uta-Napishtim
lived was unknown to Gilgamish, but he seems to have made
up his mind that he would have to face danger in reaching
the place, for he says, " I will set out and travel quickly. I
shall reach the denies in the mountains by night, and if I
see lions, and am terrified at them, I shall lift up my head
and appeal to the goddess Sin, and to Ishtar, the Lady of
the Gods, who is wont to hearken to my prayers." After
Gilgamish set out to go to the west he was attacked either by
men or animals, but he overcame them and went on until he
-arrived at Mount Mashu, where it would seem the sun was
thought both to rise and to set. The approach to this moun-
tain was guarded by Scorpion-men, whose aspect was so
terrible that the mere sight of it was sufficient to kill the
mortal who beheld them ; even the mountains collapsed
under the glance of their eyes. When Gilgamish saw the
Scorpion-men he was smitten with fear, and under the influence
of his terror the colour of his face changed ; but he plucked up
courage and bowed to them humbly. Then a Scorpion-man
cried out to his wife, saying, " The body of him that cometh
to us is the flesh of the gods," and she replied, " Two-thirds

THE NINTH AND TENTH TABLETS. 51

of him is god, and the other third is man." The Scorpion-
man then received Gilgamish kindly, and warned him that the
way which he was about to travel was full of danger and
difficulty. Gilgamish told him that he was in search of his
ancestor, Uta-Napishtim, who had been deified and made
immortal by the gods, and that it was his intention to go to
him to learn the secret of immortality. The Scorpion-man in
answer told him that it was impossible for him to continue
his journey through that country, for no man had ever suc-
ceeded in passing through the dark region of that mountain,
which required twelve double-hours to traverse. Nothing
dismayed, Gilgamish set out on the road through the moun-
tains, and the darkness increased in density every hour, but
he struggled on, and at the end of the twelfth hour he arrived
at a region where there was bright daylight, and he entered a
lovely garden, filled with trees loaded with luscious fruits, and
he saw the " tree of the gods."

, THE TENTH TABLET.

In the region to which Gilgamish had come stood the
palace or fortress of the goddess Siduri-Sabitu, and to this he
directed his steps with the view of obtaining help to continue
his journey. The goddess wore a girdle and sat upon a throne
by the side of the sea, and when she saw him coming towards
her palace, travel-stained and clad in the ragged skin of some
animal, she thought that he might prove an undesirable visitor
and so ordered the door of her palace to be 'closed against
him. But Gilgamish managed to obtain speech with her,
and having asked her what ailed her, and why she had closed
her door, he threatened to 'smash the bolt and break down
the door. In answer Siduri-Sabitu said to him :—

33. " Why are thy cheeks wasted ? Thy face is bowed

down,

34. " Thine heart is sad, thy form is dejected.

35. " Why is there lamentation in thy heart ? "

And she went on to tell him that he had the appearance
of one who had travelled far, that he was a painful sight to
look upon, that his face was burnt, and finally seems to have

52 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

suggested that he was a runaway trying to escape from the
country. To this Gilgamish replied :

39. " Why should not my cheeks be wasted, my face

bowed down,

40. " My heart sad, my form dejected ? "

And then he told the goddess that his ill-looks and miserable
appearance were due to the fact that death had carried off
his dear friend Enkidu, the " panther of the desert," who
had traversed the mountains with him and had helped him
to overcome Khumbaba in the cedar forest, and to slay the
bull of heaven, Enkidu his dear friend who had fought with
lions and killed them, and who had been with him in all his
difficulties ; and, he added; " I wept over him for six days
and nights .... before I would let him be buried."
Continuing his narrative, Gilgamish said to Sabitu-Siduri :

57. " I was horribly afraid .

58. "I was afraid of death, and therefore I fled through

the country.
" The fate of my friend lieth heavily upon me,

59. " Therefore am I travelling on a long journey through

the country.
" The fate of my friend lieth heavily upon me,

60. " Therefore am I travelling on a long journey through

the country.

61. " How is it possible for me to keep silence about it ?

How is it possible for me to cry out [the story of] it ?

62. " My friend whom I loved hath become like the dust.

" Enkidu, my friend whom I loved hath become like
the dust.

63. " Shall not I myself also be obliged to lay me down

64. " And never again rise up to aU eternity ? "

65. Gilgamish [continued] to speak unto Sabitu [saying] :

66. " [O] Sabitu, which is the way to Uta-Napishtim ?

67. " What is the description thereof ? Give me, give me

the description thereof.

68. " If it be possible I will cross the sea,

69. " If it be impossible I will travel by land."

70. Then Sabitu answered and said unto Gilgamish :

THE TENTH TABLET. 53

71. " There is no passage most assuredly, O Gilgamish. ,

72. " And no one, from the earliest times, hath been able to

cross the sea.

73. " The hero Shamash (the Sun-god) hath indeed crossed

the sea, but who besides him could do so ?

74. " The passage is hard, and the way is difficult.

75. " And the Waters of Death which block the other end

of it are deep.

76. " How then, Gilgamish, wilt thou be able to cross the

sea ?

77. " When thou arrivest at the Waters of Death what wilt

thou do ? "

Sabitu then told Gilgamish that Ur-Shanabi, the boatman
of Uta-Napishtim, was in the place, and that he should see
him, and added :

81. " If it be possible cross with him, and if it be impossible
come back."

Gilgamish left the goddess and succeeded in finding Ur-
Shanabi, the boatman, who addressed to him words similar
to those of Sabitu quoted above. Gilgamish answered him
as he had answered Sabitu, and then asked him for news
about the road to Uta-Napishtim. In reply Ur-Shanabi
told him to take his axe and to go down into the forest and
cut a number of poles 60 cubits long ; Gilgamish did so, and
when he returned with them he went up into the" boat with
Ur-Shanabi, and they made a voyage of one month and fifteen
days ; on the third day they reached the [limit of the] Waters
of Death, which Ur-Shanabi told Gilgamish not to touch
with his hand. Meanwhile, Uta-Napishtim had seen the
boat coming and, as something in its appearance seemed strange
to him, he went down to the shore to see who the newcomers
were. When he saw Gilgamish he asked him the same
questions that Sabitu and Ur-Shanabi had asked him, and
Gilgamish answered as he had answered them, and then went
on to tell him the reason for his coming. He said that he
had determined to go to visit Uta-Napishtim, the remote,
and had therefore journeyed far and that in the course of
his travels he had passed over difficult mountains and crossed

54 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

the sea. He had not succeeded in entering the house of
Sabitu, for she had caused him to be driven from her door
on account of his dirty, ragged, and travel-stained apparel.
He had eaten birds and beasts of many kinds, the lion, the
panther, the jackal, the antelope, mountain goat, etc., and,
apparently, had dressed himself in their skins.

A break in the text makes it impossible to give the opening
lines of Uta-Napishtim's reply, but he mentions the father
and mother of Gilgamish, and in the last twenty lines of the
Tenth Tablet he warns Gilgamish that on earth there is nothing
permanent, that Mammitum, the arranger of destinies, has
settled the question of the death and life of man with the
Anunnaki, and that none may find out the day of his death
or escape from death.

THE ELEVENTH TABLET.

The story of the Deluge as told by Uta-Napishtim to
Gilgamish has already been given on pp. 31-40, and we there-
fore pass on to the remaining contents of this Tablet. When
Uta-Napishtim had finished the story of the Deluge, he said
to Gilgamish, " Now as touching thyself ; which of the gods
" will gather thee to himself so that thou mayest find the life
" which thou seekest ? Come now, do not lay thyself down
" to sleep for six days and seven nights." But in spite of
this admonition as soon as Gilgamish had sat down, drowsiness
overpowered him and he fell fast asleep. Uta-Napishtim,
seeing that even the mighty hero Gilgamish could not resist
falling asleep, with some amusement drew the attention of
his wife to the fact, but she felt sorry for the tired man, and
suggested that he should take steps to help him to return to
his home. In reply Uta-Napishtim told her to bake bread
for him and she did so, and each day for six days she carried
a loaf to the ship and laid it on the deck where Gilgamish
lay sleeping. On the seventh day when she took the loaf
Uta-Napishtim touched Gilgamish, and the hero woke up
with a start, and admitted that he had been overcome with
sleep, and made incapable of movement thereby.

Still vexed with the thought of death and filled with
anxiety to escape from it, Gilgamish asked his host what he

THE ELEVENTH TABLET. 55

should do and where he should go to effect his object. By
Uta-Napishtim's advice, he made an agreement with Ur-
Shanabi the boatman, and prepared to re-cross the sea on his
way home. But before he set out on his way Uta-Napishtim
told him of the existence of a plant which jjrewjat the ^bottom
of thesea, and apparently led Gilgamish to believe that the
possession of it would confer upon him immortality. Thereupon
Gilgamish tied heavy stones [to his feet], and let himself down
into the sea through an opening in the floor of the boat. When
he reached the bottom of the sea, he saw the plant and
plucked it, and ascended into the boat with it. Showing it to
Ur-Shanabi, he told him that it was a most marvellous plant,
and that it would enable a man to obtain his heart's desire. Its
name was " Shibu issahir amelu," ^f- fc£ ^- tj ^ tit! t£w>
i.e., "The old man becometh young [again]," and Gilgamish
declared that he would " eat of it in order to recover his lost
youth," and that he would take it home to his fortified city
of Erech. Misfortune, however, dogged his steps, and the plant
never reached Erech, for whilst Gilgamish and Ur-Shanabi
were on their way back to Erech they passed a pool the water
of which was very cold, and Gilgamish dived into it and took
a bath. Whilst there a serpent discovered the whereabouts of
the plant through its smell and swallowed it. When Gilgamish
saw what had happened he cursed aloud, and sat down and wept,
and the tears coursed down his cheeks as he lamented over
the waste of his toil, and the vain expenditure of his heart's
blood, and his failure to do any good for himself. Dis-
hejprtened and weary he struggled on his way with his friend,
ana at length they arrived at the fortified city of Erech.1

1 The city of Erech was the second of the four cities which, according
to Genesis x, 10, were founded by Nimrod, the son of Cush, the
" mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his king-
dom was Babel, and Erech and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of
Shinar." The Sumerians and Babylonians called the city " URUK KI "
£<3« | ^I£| ; the first sign means " dwelling " or " habitation," and
the second " land, country," etc., and we may regard it as the " inhabited
country," par excellence, of Lower Babylonia at a very early period.
The site of Erech is well-known, and is marked by the vast ruins which
the Arabs call " Warkah," or Al-Warkah. These lie in 31° 19' N. Lat.
and 45° 40' E. Long., and are about four miles from the Euphrates,
on the left or east bank of the river. Sir W. K. Loftus carried out
excavations on the site in 1849-52, and says that the external walls

56 THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.

Then Gilgamish told Ur-Shanabi to jump up on the wall
and examine the bricks from the foundations to the battle-
ments, and see if the plans which he had made concerning
them had been carried out during his absence.

THE TWELFTH TABLET.

The text of the Twelfth Tablet is very fragmentary, and
contains large gaps, but it seems certain that Gilgamish did
not abandon his hope of finding the secret of immortality. He
had failed to find it upon earth, and he made arrangements
with the view of trying to find it in the kingdom of the dead.
The priests whom he consulted described to him the conditions
under which he might hope to enter the Underworld, but he
was unable to fulfil the obligations which they laid upon him,
and he could not go there. Gilgamish then thought that if he
could have a conversation with Enkidu, his dead friend, he
might learn from him what he wanted to know. He appealed
to Bel and asked him to raise up the spirit of Enkidu for him,
but Bel made no answer ; he then appealed to Sin, and this

of sun-dried brick enclosing the main portion of the ruins form an
irregular circle five and a half miles in circumference ; in places they are
from 40 to 50 feet in height, and they seem to have been about 20 feet
thick. The turrets on the wall were semi-oval in shape, and about 50
feet apart. The principal ruin is that of the Ziggurat, or temple tower,
which in 1850 was 100 feet high and 200 feet square. Loftus calls it
" Buwdrfya," i.e., " reed mats," because reed mats were used in its
construction, but bfirtyah, " rush mat," is a Persian not Arabic word,
and the name is more probably connected with the Arabic " Bawar,"
i.e., " ruin," " place of death," etc. This tower stood in a courtyard
which was 350 feet long and 270 feet wide. The next large ruin is that
which is called " Was was " (plur. Wasawis"), i.e., " large stone."
The " Waswas " referred to was probably the block of columnar basalt
which Loftus and Mr. T. K. Lynch found projecting through the soil ;
on it was sculptured the figure of a warrior, and the stone itself was
regarded as a talisman by the natives. This ruin is 246 feet long,
174 feet wide and 80 feet high. On three sides of it are terraces of
different elevations, but the south-west side presents a perpendicular
fagade, at one place 23 feet in height. For further details see Loftus,
Chaldea and Susiana, London, 1857, p. 159 ff. Portions of the ruins
of Warkah were excavated by the German archaeologists in 1914, and
large " finds " of tablets and other antiquities are said to have been
made.

THE TWELFTH TABLET. 57

god also made no answer. He next appealed to Ea, who, taking
pity on him, ordered the warrior god Nergal to produce the
spirit of Enkidu, and this god opened a hole in the ground
through which the spirit of Enkidu passed up into this world
" like a breath of wind." Gilgamish began to ask the spirit of
Enkidu questions, but gained very little information or satis-
faction. The last lines of the tablet seem to say that the
spirit of the unburied man reposeth not in the earth, and that
the spirit of the friendless man wandereth about the streets
eating the remains of food which are cast out from the cooking
pots.

E. A. WALLIS BUDGE.

DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN

ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM,

July ztfh, 1920.

58

NOTE.

The Trustees of the British Museum have published large
selections of cuneiform texts from the cylinders, tablets,
etc., that were found in the ruins of Nineveh by Layard,
Rassam, Smith and others, in the following works : —

CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS OF WESTERN ASIA. Vol. I. 1861.
Fol. il. (Out of print.)

- Vol. II. 1866. Fol. il. (Out of print.)

- Vol. III. 1870. Fol. i/.

- Vol. IV. Second edition. 1891. Fol. i/. (Out

of print.)

- Vol. V. Plates I.-XXXV. 1880. Fol. los. 6d.

(Out of print.)

-Vol. V. Plates XXXVI-LXX. 1884. Fol. IDS. 6d.
(Out of print.)

Vol. V. Plates I.-LXX. Lithographed reprint.

1909. Fol. i/. 75.

INSCRIPTIONS FROM ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS. 1851. Fol. i/. is.

CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM BABYLONIAN TABLETS, &c., IN THE
BRITISH MUSEUM. Parts I.-V., VII.-XXIII., XXV.,
XXVII.-XXXIV. 50 plates each. 1896-1914. 75. 6d.
each.

- Part VI. 49 plates. 1898. 75. 6d.

- Part XXIV. 50 plates. 1908. Fol. los.

- Part XXVI. 54 plates. 1909. Fol. I2s.
ANNALS OF THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA. Cuneiform texts with

transliterations and translations. Vol. I. 1903. 4to. il.
CATALOGUE OF THE CUNEIFORM TABLETS IN THE KOUYUNJIK
COLLECTION. Vol. I. 8vo. 1889. 155.

- Vol. II. 1891. 155.

- Vol. III. 1894. 155.

- Vol. IV. 1896. i/.

- Vol. V. 1899. iL 35.

Supplement. 8vo. 1914. il.

HARRISON & SONS, LTD.,

'Printers in Ordinary to His Majesty,
St, Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 2.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

LaAsy. British Museum. Dept of Egyptian
B862ba and Assyrian Antiquities

The Babylonian story of the
Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamish